It was when Jinli woke up that she realized she didn’t know when Daehyun’s flight would be coming in. Busan was eight hours ahead and right now, he should still be sleeping. She grabbed her phone and considered texting him but nothing had come from him, letting her know that he was coming back so she dropped it. Two can play at this game. If he wouldn’t think of her, why should she think of him?

            There was something nagging at her, call it woman’s intuition or whatever but it made her almost sick to her stomach. Besides the first day, he hadn’t texted or called; despite whatever his mother had wanted him to do. It also bothered her just a little that he was with Hyosung, and had been with her for the past ten days. Yes, they could have been one hundred percent professional, but she’s seen Hyosung. And trust was something Jinli couldn’t see herself doing.

            “Stop,” she said aloud to her reflection. “If you won’t trust Hyosung, at least trust Daehyun. What’s a marriage without trust?” She said the last line ironically, lifting into a smirk as she thought about their “marriage” and what that had constituted over the past few months.

            Jinli finished getting ready and asked the maid to make Daehyun’s favorite meal. That much she knew from asking her mother-in-law. She wrote on a post-it note, Not sure when you’ll be back but food in case I’m not back. She placed the paper on the table, next to his place at the table. If he came back before she did, at least he’ll see the note.

            Jinli the bracelet that Taewoon had given her and contemplated taking it off. If Daehyun came back and saw her with it on, he would probably be angry. But she was seeing him in the office today. She made a mental note to take it off when she came back.

***

            She came back to an empty house. When she peered into Daehyun’s bedroom, she saw his luggage but couldn’t find any traces of the physical him anywhere. “Daehyun?” When she went to the kitchen, the food was still untouched but her note was askew.

            Jinli took out her phone. He could be with his friends, celebrating. If he was, she didn’t want to be that naggy wife who had to keep tabs on her husband. To be safe, she shot a text to Youngjae. If anyone would understand, it would be him.

            The response came immediately. We’re celebrating tomorrow. Is he not home yet? Call him. Or I will.

            Jinli’s mouth went dry as she stared at the response. Maybe he stepped out for a moment. She dialed his number and raised her phone to her ear. There was no ring and it went to straight to voicemail. As she started to call again, the door opened.

            Daehyun walked in, smiling in a way she never remembered him doing. He was humming to himself as he took off his shoes. When he came into the kitchen, their eyes met. “Oh! You’re home.” For the first time, there wasn’t the underlying hint of animosity in his voice.

            “Y-yeah. Welcome back.”

            His lips lifted into a small smile. “London was fine.”

            At the same time, she blurted out, “Why didn’t you eat?”

            His small happy look didn’t dim, as it normally would when she asked him anything remotely about him. “Ah,” and he shuffled a little. “I went to dinner. We went to celebrate so I figured I would just eat there. Did you eat?” He leaned over her to rummage through the fridge.

            Jinli didn’t look at him. She had caught a whiff of a perfume she couldn’t place. It was too coyly sweet to be a man’s cologne. Daehyun straightened and looked at her. “Did you eat?” he asked again.

            She quickly nodded and stepped away from him. “Yeah. I ate. I guess I’ll go get ready to sleep. Good to know you did well.”

            “Thanks.” Daehyun smiled again and her heart pounded. Something was off. His success in London could not have possibly made him this happy. “Good night.”

            “Night,” she mumbled as she rushed up the stairs.

            As Jinli lay on her bed, she wondered what exactly Daehyun was hiding from her. He lied to her. Youngjae had said they weren’t celebrating until tomorrow. But then again, her logic butted into her thoughts, he didn’t exactly lie, did he? He said “we went to celebrate” but never specified who ‘we’ was, did he? Hyosung, a firm voice said in her head. It has to be Hyosung.

            She turned and groaned. No, she had to trust him. After all, they had so little in this marriage, if she couldn’t even trust him, what else did they have? But she wouldn’t get the image of Daehyun smiling at Hyosung out of her head.

***

            “Congratulations, Jung Daehyun, for yet another success. Here’s to TS and more global success!” Himchan lifted his glass into the air and Daehyun smiled broadly as everyone cheered.

            Yongguk clapped him on the back and Junhong was making loud whooping noises. It was the familiar, perfect atmosphere. Suddenly, they were back three years, celebrating their first success. Daehyun looked around at the five people he was closest with and grinned. Before being managers, before being separated to different cities, before wives and marriage, life was like this.

            Jongup tossed back his liquor and looked at Daehyun. “Did Noona not come?”

            There was an unpleasant twist in Daehyun’s stomach. Three years ago, Jinli was most definitely nowhere in the picture. “Ah, she has an important meeting today. She offers her apologies.”

            “Ah, I bet you guys really celebrated last night,” Himchan sniggered. He was winking and laughing, his flushed cheeks evident that it was time for him to stop drinking.

            Yongguk let out a happy giggle and everyone crowed at Daehyun and he smiled awkwardly. Unlike everyone else, he was still relatively sober. He took out his wallet and pulled out a wad of bills.

            “Come, I’ll call a taxi for each of you. The bill’s on me. Let’s go. We still need to work tomorrow.”

            The six of them walked out of the club and Daehyun saw each of them off. Jongup tried to tug him into the cab with him. “Come on, Hyung. Our houses are on the way.”

            Daehyun laughed and got off Jongup. “Go, I need to see Youngjae off safely. He’s going back to Seoul.”

            Youngjae leaned heavily on Daehyun’s arm. “Y’know, Hyun, you should really, eeeally treat Jinli better. A girl lai her ard to comeby.” His words were slurred but Daehyun knew Youngjae meant what he said. It only made him feel a little weird.

            The taxi pulled up and Daehyun paid the driver. “To Seoul please.” He unpeeled Youngjae and buckled him. “Alright, Mr. Yoo, go home; you’re drunk.”

            Youngjae sighed and stared at Daehyun. “Member, wuv her.”

            Daehyun rolled his eyes. His best friend really enjoyed meddling in his private life. He stared at where the taxi slowly disappeared and turned to go home. He felt the vibrate and then his phone started to ring.

            “Hello?”

            “Dae,” came a sing-song voice. “It’s been less than five hours but I miss you already.”

            A large smile came over his face. “Miss me? Do you think seeing me at one in the morning would make you feel better?”

***

            It was three in the morning and even Jinli knew that with work the next day, Yongguk would never let them out this late. She sat up in bed and hated herself for caring. But it was less care and more suspicion. Daehyun had been acting sketchy all day and she wanted to confirm that she wasn’t crazy.

            She grabbed her phone from the desk and her thumb hovered over his name. To call or not to call. She pressed her thumb down determinedly and held the phone to her ear. One ring, two rings, three rings, a fourth and then she heard his sleepy voice.

            “Hello?”

            “Daehyun?” her heart was in . Maybe he had gone home with one of them because it was too dangerous to drive home drunk.

            “Who is it, DaeDae?”

            Jinli’s heart stopped and she stilled. Her breath was suddenly hard to catch. It was definitely a female voice and she recognized it. Everything made sense. It was as if a clear lightning bolt had struck her and she saw the entire situation with scary clarity. Of course, Daehyun, of course.

I can't believe in two days it would be my one year anniversary with this story

Like a lot of my first bias-you stories, this one is going to be extra special to my heart. I have so many more Daehyun-Jinli stories planned but I'm afraid none of them would be as good, would be as dear to me, as this one.

I really appreciate your support. All the comments, all the twitter mentions, you guys are absolutely the best.

Thank you so much for your support 

♥

There will be quite a few more chapters left. Quite a lot, actually. I'm starting to find my pace. There's still a slight glitch in the plot but we'll get there when we do

Thank you so much for your continuous love and support.